Heather Collis

"My results from the \"My Skills, My Life\" quiz were Communicator, Coordinator, and Manager. After reading the descriptions, I laughed slightly because I realised they described me really well! Communicator: I really enjoy volunteering as a STEM Ambassador where I go into schools and try to inspire students about all the amazing applications of mathematics. I think the hardest part about being a good communicator is remembering to actively listen. It's very easy to focus on making sure you're speaking clearly, and presenting yourself well, but the ability to listen to people's questions and process them quickly in order to provide useful answers is very important as well.Coordinator: Alongside my research as a PhD student, I am also a PhD rep. Just like you may be a class rep at school, I represent the PhD students in the School of Mathematics and make sure that their thoughts are being heard within the department. This role requires a lot of the skills listed under Coordinator as I have to be able to communicate clearly the issues that PhD students may be facing to senior staff at the same time as being approachable so that PhD students feel comfortable approaching me with their issues.Manager: This trait comes less from work and more from my social groups. As a PhD student, I tend to work fairly independently, but within my group of friends I'm known as the \"mum\" friend. To be honest, this used to irritate me, but as I've gotten older I've realised that this is actually a really big compliment. Being the \"mum\" friend recognises that I'm always happy to jump in and help someone (whether it's checking over a job application or just being someone that listens whilst they decompress after a stressful day), and that I'm really quite good at pulling everyone together to finally have a group catch-up now we're spread across the country for work. As I progress through my career, theses teamwork and organisational skills will probably prove very useful."

"My research in mathematics focuses on understanding how hormones in plants help to regulate their growth. We want to understand this as it may help in the development of more sustainable crops. I know it doesn't really sound like maths, but it is!Biological experiments can be time consuming and expensive, so I make computer simulations of plant roots and the hormones within them, and use my simulations to try and understand what may be happening biologically. These results can then be used to guide which experiments biologists undertake to produce the most useful data. I can also use the data gathered from biological experiments to try and make predictions about what may happen to the hormones within a plant if it experiences drought.One of the things I enjoy most about my job is that I'm always learning something new. I only have a GCSE in Biology and so I'm always learning something new and interesting about how plants work. I also get to work with a large group of researchers across mathematics and biology, many with more experience than me, and so I can always learn something new from them as well. "

"I took triple science at GCSE and (I probably shouldn't admit this) really didn't enjoy biology! So for my A levels I took Maths, Further Maths, and Physics and thought that was the end of my biology journey. Fast forward to my third year of university (where I studied for a maths degree at the University of Birmingham) and I was introduced to the topic of Mathematical Biology and I was hooked. I decided I wanted to write my masters thesis on a topic in mathematical biology and that was when I first started applying mathematics to the study of plants.My masters supervisor (Dr Rosemary Dyson) has been a massive inspiration throughout my journey in mathematical biology. She taught the first mathematical biology course I took which got me hooked into the world of math bio and then provided me with fantastic support throughout my masters and PhD applications. I'm now in my second year of my PhD, still working with maths and plants, and have a great trio of supervisors who provide me with lots of support and inspiration that gives me the drive to try and succeed in my research. I really enjoy working across maths and biology and definitely proved my 16 year old self wrong on my opinions of biology!"

"In my spare time, I really enjoy keeping up with my exercise (or at least trying to). I am part of a netball team and regularly attend Pilates and Body Attack classes. I spend a lot of time thinking about sustainability issues at work and how my research might be able to help solve some of the problems that we are facing with climate change, so I've decided to try and be more sustainable in my life at home as well. This includes slowly transitioning towards a plant-based diet, which has given me a real opportunity to get excited about cooking again, and I've given up flying for personal holidays. I really enjoy travelling and was really excited to have planned my first no-fly holiday around the Scottish Highlands travelling only by train or ferry (unfortunately this ended up being cancelled because of Covid-19, but I'm looking forward to rebooking when everything has settled down again). Me and my mum are also big fans of trying to find a bargain in a charity shop!"

"As a PhD student, there isn't really a typical day. A typical week for me would involve the majority of my time being spent on my research. This usually involves a portion of my time spent reading academic papers and the rest of my time spent coding at my computer. Throughout the week, I usually also spend 3-4 hours supporting undergraduate students in their problem classes (I'm paid to do this), I have an hour long meeting with my supervisors to discuss my research and progress, and then I may have 2-3 more hours of other meetings that can vary. These may include an external speaker giving a seminar, participating in a meeting as a PhD rep, or taking part in training activities to broaden my skill-set. "

"Post GCSE I took A levels in Maths (A*), Further Maths (A*), and Physics (A) and an AS level in Chemistry (A). At university I studied for an integrated masters in Mathematics and obtained a 1st class degree. From there I stayed on studying for my PhD (although at a different university). "